USA team in AFL?

[wikipediaAFLproject]

Actually, it's called the Australian Football League.

It changed its name from Victorian Footall League to Australian Football League.

There is also the West Australian Football League

 

[zachary]

Why don't you do your own research. AFL in the USA is held together by expats. The number of games each year has declined since the middle of this decade. A handful of Americans playing on each team does not equal a huge interest from the American public. Most don't know what the hell Aussie Rules is and most don't want to know what it is. As I said previously, if there was any interest at all, it wouldn't be so hard to recruit players in the first place, and you'd actually get a few people watching the game other than just wives and girlfriends. Football used to be available to watch on cable and they took it down as nobody watched it. It will never take off in the USA.

You don't know what you are talking about. Why don't you educate yourself by looking at worldfootynews.com.au , or get along to a few games at the next International Cup, where all of the players are nationals of the country they represent ( unlike rugby internationals, wher you just have to fly over a country to be eligible to play for it). In nearly all of the overseas leagues ther are rules limiting the number of expat aussies, and the majority of all players are locals. It's embryonic, but they have achieved alot with minimal support from the AFL. Ignorant rants like yours don't help.

 

[BigBadCam]

You don't know what you are talking about. Why don't you educate yourself by looking at worldfootynews.com.au , or get along to a few games at the next International Cup, where all of the players are nationals of the country they represent ( unlike rugby internationals, wher you just have to fly over a country to be eligible to play for it). In nearly all of the overseas leagues ther are rules limiting the number of expat aussies, and the majority of all players are locals. It's embryonic, but they have achieved alot with minimal support from the AFL. Ignorant rants like yours don't help.

I know all about the US revolution and about the rules regarding player nationalities. I still stand by the fact that it's more a way for Aussie expats to catch up, eat meat pies and listen to Cold Chisel than a serious crack at football. A lot of Americans are drawn in by that culture rather than the football itself. Not having a dig at it because that's pretty cool, but Aussie Rules will never be a major force in the United States.

 

[mark73]

http://www.denverbulldogs.com/

Just so you know, it's the Denver Bulldogs, and they are the powerhouse team of the USAFL. They just won their 7th straight division 1 National Championship. Them, Boston, SanDiego and New York have always been the better teams. None of them would be competitive in a decent Australian league though IMO.

You're right. It's actually Golden State.

 

[Deefolt]

The Boston demons apprently have rather strong relations with Melbourne, there have been a few mentions on the dees site and the Boston demons site about the clubs working together providing gear etc

 

[jakos]

Why don't you do your own research. AFL in the USA is held together by expats. The number of games each year has declined since the middle of this decade. A handful of Americans playing on each team does not equal a huge interest from the American public. Most don't know what the hell Aussie Rules is and most don't want to know what it is. As I said previously, if there was any interest at all, it wouldn't be so hard to recruit players in the first place, and you'd actually get a few people watching the game other than just wives and girlfriends. Football used to be available to watch on cable and they took it down as nobody watched it. It will never take off in the USA.

Absolute rubbish. Nobody's suggesting that Australian football will 'take off' in a major way, but year-on-year the number of participants here are growing significantly - in my area by 30% annually, albeit from a small base. And nearly all of that growth is coming in the form of American and Canadian players, as the numbers of Aussies over here are relatively constant from year-to-year.

AFL games are televised, and most footy centres are transitioning from single clubs to local metro-focused competitions. In fact, the number of games played is growing substantially each year, but because of the changes and difficulties in posting them (and, arguably, indifference to the US Footy website), those games aren't accurately posted on the US Footy site that you referenced as proof of a growing apathy for the game here.

The bottom line is that, not being on the ground participating over here, you have no idea what you're on about.

 

[jakos]

I know for a fact that North have a few times been in contact with the Denver Kangaroos and in fact it was us who supplied them with all their gear.

Denver Bulldogs mate. And it was Footscray that donated their first set of red kit.

 

[jakos]

Each team can only have a maximum of 50% Australian players. Every single Australian involved has been extremely passionate about promoting the game, but even so, it's not like Americans are beating down the door to play or even watch Aussie Rules. The USAFL IMO is a way for expat Australians to catch up with other expat Australians and eat meat pies, drink a few Australian beers and listen to Cold Chisel together.

How many clubs have you been involved with over here BBC? My club had 85 members play in our local metro league this season, eight of which are Australians, one is a Kiwi and one Irish. You're more likely to find us eating wings and discussing ice hockey results than doing anything remotely Australian, as most of our players have little interest in it outside of footy or as a place to travel.

 

[jakos]

It changed its name from Victorian Footall League to Australian Football League.

There is also the West Australian Football League

Could be read either way, in my opinion.

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

Roll your eyes at me again and I'll cut your heart out and cook it in my frying pan.

LOL at the imagery there... well played DMC

(For a while I thought he was actually displaying a sense of humour- but on further investigation, it seems like it was actually a serious comment! They breed 'em tough on the Interwebz folks... )

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

The Boston demons apparently have rather strong relations with Melbourne, there have been a few mentions on the dees site and the Boston demons site about the clubs working together providing gear etc

Interesting... I wonder if there's any kind of an Irish connection there perhaps...

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

Certainly Big Footy is doing its part to advance global warming.

Too true... the combined power usage from posters must be reaching chronic levels by now!

 

[Rex]

Kevin Rudd has shown that he enjoys AFL football and maybe he could be used in a negotiating capacity with Obama to turn any thoughts of an American football team into reality.

We need to strike while the iron's hot.

 

[BigBadCam]

How many clubs have you been involved with over here BBC? My club had 85 members play in our local metro league this season, eight of which are Australians, one is a Kiwi and one Irish. You're more likely to find us eating wings and discussing ice hockey results than doing anything remotely Australian, as most of our players have little interest in it outside of footy or as a place to travel.

Nationals are based around meat pies and Coopers beer. Fact. Every club I was involved with were based out of an Australian themed pub.

 

[melbournemartin]

Why do people want to taint our great game with foreign teams?

It's great that we have some foreign players broadening our game but foreign teams is a whole new thing and not a good one at that.

 

[Johnny Utah #9]

Absolute rubbish. Nobody's suggesting that Australian football will 'take off' in a major way, but year-on-year the number of participants here are growing significantly - in my area by 30% annually, albeit from a small base. And nearly all of that growth is coming in the form of American and Canadian players, as the numbers of Aussies over here are relatively constant from year-to-year.

AFL games are televised, and most footy centres are transitioning from single clubs to local metro-focused competitions. In fact, the number of games played is growing substantially each year, but because of the changes and difficulties in posting them (and, arguably, indifference to the US Footy website), those games aren't accurately posted on the US Footy site that you referenced as proof of a growing apathy for the game here.

The bottom line is that, not being on the ground participating over here, you have no idea what you're on about.

Well said jakos.

I think most level headed people would agree that an AFL team based in the USA will never occur, at least in any of our lifetimes. Heck, plenty complain about a 4 hour flight to/from Perth, imagine what they would say about 14-18 hours on a plane to/from the US!

The impact of Darren Bennett, Mat McBriar, Sav Rocca and Ben Graham in the NFL has also significantly increased the profile of Aussie Rules and the AFL in the USA. I know the San Diego Chargers for example have had in recent years exhibition games at half time of local Aussie Rules teams. Obviously this was a shortened game with limited rules and players, but nonetheless it still would have reached a significant audience.

I think the best and cheapest way for the AFL to support the growth of the game is to do the following:

* provide basic equipement to the clubs over there (eg: footy's, jumpers, etc)

* have high profile AFL identities visit for the US National Champs (I know Kevin Sheedy has been in recent years)

*encourage AFL club coaches and administrators that regularly visit NFL teams in the off season to also pay a visit to a couple of USAFL clubs (eg: Matthew Knights is over there at the moment so would be easy for him to visit a couple of USAFL clubs as well)

* continue to play an exhibition game between two AFL sides at events like G'Day LA.

 

[Rex]

* have high profile AFL identities visit for the US National Champs (I know Kevin Sheedy has been in recent years)

Really, what impact would Sheedy have over there. They barely know who he is in ignorant NSW.

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

Too bad the Chaser isn't still running, they could conduct a few vox pops in the US again, this time asking people about Sheedy...

 

[collingwill]

Well said jakos.

I think most level headed people would agree that an AFL team based in the USA will never occur, at least in any of our lifetimes. Heck, plenty complain about a 4 hour flight to/from Perth, imagine what they would say about 14-18 hours on a plane to/from the US!

The impact of Darren Bennett, Mat McBriar, Sav Rocca and Ben Graham in the NFL has also significantly increased the profile of Aussie Rules and the AFL in the USA. I know the San Diego Chargers for example have had in recent years exhibition games at half time of local Aussie Rules teams. Obviously this was a shortened game with limited rules and players, but nonetheless it still would have reached a significant audience.

I think the best and cheapest way for the AFL to support the growth of the game is to do the following:

* provide basic equipement to the clubs over there (eg: footy's, jumpers, etc)

* have high profile AFL identities visit for the US National Champs (I know Kevin Sheedy has been in recent years)

*encourage AFL club coaches and administrators that regularly visit NFL teams in the off season to also pay a visit to a couple of USAFL clubs (eg: Matthew Knights is over there at the moment so would be easy for him to visit a couple of USAFL clubs as well)

* continue to play an exhibition game between two AFL sides at events like G'Day LA.

i pretty much agree with all this, i think we should just concentrate on building the leagues over there, in time if the demand is there (30/40 yrs) then maybe look at a team over there, what would be great for our game in the short term is to recruit a star US player from another sport, ALA carmicheal hunt, as you all know that wouldnt come cheap though..

 

[Fitzcray]

i pretty much agree with all this, i think we should just concentrate on building the leagues over there, in time if the demand is there (30/40 yrs) then maybe look at a team over there, what would be great for our game in the short term is to recruit a star US player from another sport, ALA carmicheal hunt, as you all know that wouldnt come cheap though..

30-40 years is too long.
There is money to be made in the US and footy has a good enough foothold in certain areas over there to build from.
We can't stay locked in Australia forever.

 

[collingwill]

30-40 years is too long.
There is money to be made in the US and footy has a good enough foothold in certain areas over there to build from.
We can't stay locked in Australia forever.

i started a thread about a team in Ireland by 2035 a couple of weeks ago, got shot down severly lol, im all for expanding our game, id love nothing more than the yanks to get involved, id also be happy for the AFL to spend much much more money promoting our game over there, but in saying that itan actual team over theres a long way off.

 

[bretigan]

Hi,

I am from the States, and I can tell you a new sport is hard to start. I can't remember the league, but Vince McMahon of the WWE started a no rules football league, and that didn't make it. I am not really sure of the details of that league. We also have indoor football, which is a much faster pace game, but is no where near the NFL. The problem with the states, is the television coverage of the sport. Hard to get behind a team in a different sport when it doesn't make the sports in the news, or is shown on network TV.

Bret

 

[BigBadCam]

Hi,

I am from the States, and I can tell you a new sport is hard to start. I can't remember the league, but Vince McMahon of the WWE started a no rules football league, and that didn't make it. I am not really sure of the details of that league. We also have indoor football, which is a much faster pace game, but is no where near the NFL. The problem with the states, is the television coverage of the sport. Hard to get behind a team in a different sport when it doesn't make the sports in the news, or is shown on network TV.

Bret

The XFL was a flop. Arena football, or the AFL that already exists in the United States is fast paced and good to watch. You'd think with the new TV package there might be a few more games broadcast overseas.

Denver Bulldogs (7x USAFL division 1 national champions)

[YOUTUBE]ZBt2MRyI0_g[/YOUTUBE]

 

[ManUtd]

I would love to see what else goes inside the head of someone who believes an AFL team should happen in the USA.

 

[PalaceGun]

30-40 years is too long.
There is money to be made in the US and footy has a good enough foothold in certain areas over there to build from.

Are you high?

The world's biggest sport soccer/football isn't even successful over there, how you think a sport that 99.9% of the population knows nothing about is going to be successful (make money) is beyond me.

We can't stay locked in Australia forever.

Why not?